Prior to the introduction of Apostille certificates the burden
on international courts and authorities to judge foreign documents as authentic
was quite considerable. On the 5 October 1961 the Hague Convention abolished the
requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents. The Convention reduces
all of the formalities of legalisation to the simple delivery of a certificate
in a prescribed form, entitled "Apostille", by the authorities of the State
where the document originates. This certificate, placed on the document, is
dated, numbered and registered. The verification of its registration can be
carried out without difficulty by means of a simple request for information
addressed to the authority which delivered the certificate.